Kentucky Republican Party website hacked over Memorial Day weekend

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Republican Party's website was up and running properly Tuesday morning after being hacked over the weekend, allegedly by a group called Slim El and AnonCoders Team.

The group is known for its efforts to defend the dignity of Muslims and tries to spread the word that all Muslims are not terrorists. AnonCoders is an apparent subset of the hacking collective known as Anonymous.

The hacking of the state GOP website, RPK.org, did not affect donor information, state Republican Party chairman Steve Robertson said. That information is stored on a separate server that wasn't compromised, Robertson said.

No internal databases in the party's headquarters on Capitol Avenue in Frankfort were hacked, he said.

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It displayed a mask of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605 to restore a Catholic head of state.

The mask is often used by Anonymous and is a well-known symbol for anti-government and anti-establishment protests. It became popular for broader protest after it was used as a major plot element in the 2006 movie V for Vendetta.

In April, Anonymous attacked sites around the world and declared cyber war with the Israeli government. It promised more hacks in June.

Robertson, who was notified of the state GOP hacking Sunday afternoon, said the website's designers and hosting company were considering whether to ask police to investigate.